When things started cooling down, I headed outside and checked on the old kitchen garden. I started to pull out some weeds I missed this morning, when I heard a noise.

I had startled Junk Pile cat, who was lying on the beets by the retaining wall.

She wasn’t alone!

What a cutie!!

I saw another one dash around the tree, so I started carefully moving around to the side of the garden…

Only to startle more critters.

I certainly wasn’t going to begrudge the skunks a drink of water, so I let them be (the water bottles had been frozen, earlier) and kept moving slowly though the side of the garden.

This confused the skunks, as usually we never go between them and the storage house. We usually go to the other side and use the hose to chase them that way, instead.

This baby was so confused, it started to follow me! 😀

On the far side of the retaining wall, I found the kitten.

It just froze there, watching me.

The other one came bounding over, playing in the mosquito netting, until it realized I was there, then it ran off into the maple grove. The first one stayed frozen for a while longer before it ran off.

I am so glad Junk Pile finally brought her kittens over! From how many teats I could see were in use, I had thought she had more. I don’t know if these are the only ones that were brave enough to follow her, or if they are the only survivors left.

As I headed around the kibble house – which got its second coat of paint yesterday – I spotted Rosencrantz’s babies.

This little one was hiding behind the pedestal, watching me, before coming out for a drink.

It’s sibling was watching me, too, while lounging on some scrap carpet in the junk pile.

I had been wondering how the kittens were getting through the fence. The ground rises slightly here and, between that and the junk, there is no gap at the bottom. This morning, I saw how. They are still small enough to fit through the chain link… but just barely! Pretty soon, they’ll have to go around to another part of the fence, where there is a gap underneath, to get through.

So that’s three litters of kittens we’ve seen now. Butterscotch and her four, and Rosencrantz and Junk Pile’s, with two each. That leaves Ghost Baby, assuming Ghost Baby is actually female and has a litter. We still don’t know, but are kind of assuming.

Hopefully, we will be able to socialize some of them, but if they just become comfortable enough to come to the house for food and water, I will be happy.

The Re-Farmer